ValdezVALDEZ & PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND SIDE-TRIP
ValdezJoin us for a visit to Valdez during the last part of our "summer break". We will meet in Glenallen, enjoy a pizza party that evening and the next day travel through the Chugach Wrangell Mountains, stopping to see Worthington Glacier, and then cross 2678-ft. Thompson Pass. Just over the ridge we will stop at Blueberry Lake, a delightful spot enrobed in subalpine flowers, such as the Glaucous Gentian shown here. If our group is small, we may stay there to camp. Otherwise we will continue to Valdez, stopping to see Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls, where a pair of American Dippers nest. In Valdez our campground will be on the bay, adjacent to the harbor. In addition to birding during the cruise, we will have time on other days for birding the Valdez area. Specialties we have found previous years include Townsend's Warbler, Northwestern Crow, Rufous Hummingbird and Wandering Tattler.
Activities in Valdez:
Valdez (earthquake) Museum, including a fascinating video of the earthquake
Whitney (Native Alaska) Museum
Pipeline video
Local birding
Fishing
One of the highlights of visiting Valdez is a cruise of Prince William Sound. Aboard a comfortable and luxurious boat, we will enjoy a narrated tour of the Valdez harbor, the sound and Columbia Glacier. Humpback and Killer whales are usually seen on these trips, as well as rafts of Sea Otters and large colonies of Stellar Sea Lions. Close to the rocky outcroppings we see Pelagic and Red-faced cormorants, Tufted and Horned puffins and Pigeon Guillemots. At the icy waters where the glaciers cave into the sea, the Marbled Murrelets we saw farther out to sea are replaced by Kittlitz's Murrelets.